Flood crisis in various cities of Iran; death toll in Shiraz reaches 17

The flood crisis in various cities in northern and southern Iran has caused significant financial and human losses, with the continuation of these floods on Monday, April 25, resulting in at least 17 deaths and 35 injuries in the city of Shiraz.

The Director General of Forensic Medicine in Fars Province also confirmed that 17 people were killed in the Shiraz flood, announcing that six men, seven women, three boys, and one girl were among the dead.

According to the head of Iran's emergency services, 20 of the 35 injured in the incident have been taken to the hospital.

The flood in Shiraz claimed a victim when, according to published images, many cars were in the path of the flood at the city's Quran Gate, so that the raging floodwaters carried these cars away, causing them to crash severely.

Many people were caught in the flood path at the Quran Gate in Shiraz, and some images showed a mother and daughter barely saving their lives from the flood.

After the incident, the head of the Traffic Information and Control Center of the NAJA Traffic Police announced that more than 200 cars were trapped in the water.

Published images of the flooding in Shiraz showed that the flooding in Shiraz had severely frightened the people and travelers of the city during Nowruz.

The flood path also reached the cities of Khorramabad and Pol-e Dokhtar in Lorestan Province, so that this province faced flooding from the early hours of Monday, April 25.

The published images show waterlogging and flooding in various cities in the province, including Khorramabad and Durr Chegni.

News reports indicate that drinking water and communication routes have been cut off in Pol-e-Dokhtar. The Director General of the Ministry of Energy's Crisis Office has also announced that due to severe flooding in Lorestan Province, water has been cut off in 60 villages and 50 villages have also faced power outages.

The presence of the Khorramrod River in the middle of the city of Khorramabad and the Kashkan River in Pol-e-Dokhtar have been cited as reasons for the critical flooding situation in the province. Musa Khademi, the governor of Lorestan, has said that if the rainfall continues, we will face serious dangers in Pol-e-Dokhtar.

ISNA news agency also reported on Monday, April 25, that the Arvand Rud dams in Khuzestan had broken. It is said that floods have reached the villages of Arvand Rud.

The published images also show that the floodwaters have also reached the earthquake-stricken area of ​​Sar-e-Pul-e-Zahab.

The continuation of these floods comes at a time when flood warnings are still in effect in other provinces of Iran. The Alborz Regional Water Company has warned of the possibility of the Karaj River overflowing and urged residents along the riverbank and travelers on the Chalus Road to stay away from the Karaj River.

Elham Fakhari, a member of Tehran's city council, also warned on Twitter of a heavy storm this afternoon. Some images from Tehran also show flooded streets in the capital.

The CEO of Tehran Regional Water Company has also warned of heavy rain and flooding of the province's rivers in the coming days.

The CEO of the Markazi Province Regional Water Company also said that "given that the useful life of some dams in Markazi Province has expired, there is a possibility that these dams will break if they encounter heavy rainfall."

But the northern provinces of Iran, namely Mazandaran and Golestan, have not yet recovered from the flood crisis.

The governor of Aq Qala city has reported that five days after the flooding in the city, the situation in the city of Aq Qala and its 37 villages is still critical.

Previously, the Ministry of Energy and the Meteorological Organization had warned of flooding in 10 provinces of the country, including Lorestan.

Iran has been facing floods in its various cities since the end of March 2018. In recent days, flooding in the provinces of Mazandan, Golestan, and North Khorasan has caused financial and human losses, and the crisis of this devastating flood in these provinces has not yet been resolved.

The ongoing flood crisis in Iran comes at a time when the late response of government institutions to the flood in Golestan province, the lack of accountability of officials, and the presence of the Golestan governor on a trip abroad have drawn widespread criticism. This has led to the complete cancellation of the vacations of the governors involved in the flood.

In May of last year, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, while announcing support for the Iranian people, said, "We are witnessing financial and environmental crises in Iran. Corruption has engulfed the country. The regime is stealing from its own people."

Also, Brian Hook, the US Special Representative for Iran, pointed out that 600 dams have been built in Iran "without any environmental assessment" after the revolution, and stated that the Islamic Republic regime has destroyed the country's water resources through mismanagement over the past forty years.

Source: Voice of America